How to become a health and safety expert quickly

Health and safety too-often becomes a priority a moment too late. It might be because you’ve experienced an accident, or noticed an upcoming audit, or simply because trustees have asked (the right) questions. But robust health and safety in the workplace demands forward thinking. It demands planning, preparation, and buy-in from across the charity. That’s why it’s important to have at least one health and safety expert in your charity, someone dedicated to organisational safety.

 

The benefits of a health and safety expert are many. They protect employee wellbeing, preventing injury and illness. They ensure effective compliance, mitigate risks, protect your reputation, and make sure you pass any relevant audits or inspections. And, importantly, health and safety experts often exert a positive influence organisational culture, ensuring your charity takes responsibility for risks and provides a safe, nurturing environment for employees.

 

But how do you become a health and safety expert? You do not need to take various courses, work in the evenings and the weekends, or pay any excessive fees. We can show you, in very simple terms, how you can become a health and safety expert quickly and effectively.

 

Check out Breathe HR

 

 

What does a health and safety expert do?

 

A health and safety expert can perform different tasks, depending on the demands of an organisation. But, as a standard, you’d expect them to ensure the workplace remains safe, compliant, and free from any hazards. They are likely to implement safety measures and policies, train staff and volunteers on the latest protocols, advise on fire safety and any other occupational health conditions, and generally assess and react to core risks.

 

A common misconception is that health and safety experts are only necessary in certain industries, such as construction and healthcare, but they are essential across all industries, including in the charity sector. And demand for health and safety experts is growing. That’s because organisations want to reduce liabilities and ensure effective compliance.

 

 

Learning about health and safety

 

Start by learning why health and safety is so important. Read articles and  watch webinars from the experts and explore the basics. Then further your learning with health and safety specific training within online learning tools, such as Breathe Learn, which has designed courses to protect your people and their wellbeing. The courses explore everything from manual handling to infection control to mitigating stress, covering both the obvious risks and less obvious risks across various different industries.

 

You’ll want to pass the knowledge onto other stakeholders or invite them to join the course. It is important that everyone in your charity remains aware of health and safety responsibilities and supports the creation, maintenance, and improvement of safety in the workplace.

 

You’ll also want to dig a bit deeper into the legislation. Start with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HSWA 1974), which enshrines the principles of health and safety in the workplace. HSWA 1974 places a range of duties on employers, all of which you should know. The Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 and the so-called ‘Six Pack’ of Statutory Instruments are also worth exploring, as they may impact decision-making.

 

If the legislation feels intimidating at first, do not worry. You are not alone. There are plenty of online resources to help you navigate all the regulations without the stress, such as Breathe HR’s jargon-free  workplace health and safety checklist. And remember that you’ll need to stay abreast of any changes relevant to health and safety legislation across the UK – and the Health and Safety Executive provides really simple advice on doing that.

 

 

Building, or improving, policies and protocols

 

Nearly half (45%) of SME managers and leaders have one or more health and safety documents missing or out of date, according to Breathe HR. Getting the right policies in place is crucial. You’ll want to improve your policies and protocols, applying your new-found knowledge to the benefit of your charity. HSWA 1974 requires a health and safety policy only if your organisation has more than five employees. But it’s still good practice that every charity should have a policy in place.

 

A good health and safety policy contains, at a minimum, a commitment to compliance with legislation, detail around how you intend to manage health and safety, responsibilities and timings, and the risks to your charity and what you have done to mitigate them. Including advice on training would be a benefit – and, for charities dealing with volunteers, specific advice around how health and safety might impact them is crucial. Remember that you should review policies at least annually, considering any developments in legislation, as mentioned above.

 

A health and safety expert knows the basics, understands the legislation, and converts that knowledge into practical advice for their organisation. Then, ideally, they’ll make further improvements, streamlining health and safety across the charity and getting others involved.

 

 

Managing health and safety in one secure platform

 

Half of small to medium sized businesses still rely on spreadsheets, paper, or emails to manage health and safety. That number is likely to rise for charities who are often small, and far too busy. One productive step a health and safety expert can take is to incorporate health and safety into a wider HR software ecosystem, ensuring everything is kept in one safe place.

 

We advise looking at health and safety tools or software that sit within HR software to help you stay compliant, reduce risk and protect your people, without the costs and admin of multiple systems and subscriptions. Breathe HR is a great example – especially for charities and non-profits. They’re launching a health and safety tool inside their core HR software that  centralises health and safety data and information and places policies and procedures alongside employee data.

 

The system  will help you build risk assessments, log incidents, track roles and certifications, and keep all policies and documents in the same place  where you manage employee absence, performance and data.  It’s essentially a tool that helps you  accelerate your route to effective health and safety and the best way for your charity to create a safe, compliant and positive working environment

 

For charities weighing up their options, there’s an added benefit. Breathe makes an annual donation back to each charity customer worth 25% of their subscription value.

 

Check out Breathe today